Mio caro fratello
by Ahai
Summary: Romano really hates Germany. This fic explains why.


In a storage room inside Spain's home, an Italian sat in a fetal position into a wall. He had big hopes no one would find him in here, he really wanted to be left alone now. He usually did dislike having others clinging up to him, but this time he was very serious. Normally he was grumpy, had a big mouth and was easily annoyed but now he felt something else. He was hurt. Hurt, sad and worried, all those feelings was now bothering him. But what bothered him the most was the thoughts that caused all those negative feelings. He had his arms to his knees and his hands to his head. He stared hard at the floor and waited for the tears to come. But they didn't. He didn't understand, he was all by himself in a dark, quiet storage room; wouldn't that make it all easy to cry out? He wasn't sure how long he would be sitting in here, but right now he had the will to sit in here forever if necessary.

"Romano?" A sudden light entered the room and a voice called him.

Spain. Dammit, why was he here now? Romano shriveled himself as much as he could, no way he would let bastard Spain see him like this.

"Romano tomatito? Where are you?" Spain trudged around the room.

Romano tried to make himself as quiet as possible, but it failed as he was breathing in and made a sob. Spain's head popped up from behind a shelf, which was in front of Romano.

"There you are!" Spain said in his usual cheerful tone, as if he was talking to a little child.

"Go away" Romano said as he was loosening up from his shriveling position. There was no point being in that position anymore when the one you were hiding from found you.

"Oh, what is it? Are you so grumpy today, tomatito?" Spain poked Romano's cheek.

"Go away, you bastard!" Romano said.

Now Romano felt humiliated, and mocked as well. Spain kept poking his cheek and talked to him in baby language, like what he used to do when Romano was still a chibi. As usual anger was burning within Romano but now he could feel his eyes burn to.

"JUST GO AWAY!" Romano slapped away Spain's hand. He hid his face in his knees and started to breathe uneven.

Spain didn't move at all. Spain was used to an angry Romano, but he could see there was more behind this. Whenever Romano had tantrums he would usually blush and mumble curse words afterwards, but now Romano wasn't like this at all. Spain could see something was wrong.

"Romano…"

"Just go away, you idiot" Romano said in a normal tone rather than his normal grumpy one.

Spain gently put his hand on Romano's shoulder. Romano still had his head to his knees.

"Can't you just leave me alone, dammit? You are not my boss anymore"

"No, I am not. But I still care about you and I want to know what's troubling you" Spain said in a serious but still gentle tone.

Romano lifted up his head and looked at Spain.

"You really want to know?" Romano said.

"Yes! I really do, Romano. Tell me, por favor"

"I hate that potato bastard" Romano mumbled.

That wasn't a shocking thing to hear. Romano has many times said how much he hated Germany, aka "potato bastard". But why was he like that? Did Germany do something towards him?

"What has he done, Romano?" Spain asked.

"He is all so macho, scary and so stupid!" Romano said.

"Yes ok, but Romano, has he done anything towards you?"

"No… He is so much with Veneziano"

"Has Germany done anything towards him then?"

Romano started to get annoyed by Spain's questions.

"That potato bastard is a bad influence on him and no brother of mine is going to be with kinds like him!" Romano exclaimed.

"But it seems to me Italy really likes to be with Germany" Spain said.

Romano let out a hitched breath.

"I hate him so much…" Romano whispered.

"Why, Romano? Aren't you happy when your brother is happy?"

"The potato bastard is… he…he is…" Romano made it sound like the last word was trying to break out from a cage.

"What, he is what, Romano?"

Romano slumped down his limbs. He looked at Spain, he had tears streaming down his face and that face of his really looked depressed.

"He is taking my brother away from me"

Spain's eyes widened up in surprise.

"Oh, Romano…"

Romano suddenly put his arms around Spain's neck and cried into the crook of his neck. Spain put his arms around Romano's body and held him tight and gently. Spain rubbed Romano's back, shushed him silently so his crying would calm down. Romano calmed down after a little while but he was still into Spain.

"We rarely got to see each other as children. Now that we finally are reunited, he spends most of his time with that potato bastard." Romano said.

"Romano, I am sure Italy isn't going anywhere, he will always be here." Spain tried to comfort him with words.

"Veneziano loves him more than he loves me"

Romano let go of Spain and got up. He left the storage room, leaving the Spaniard sitting all by himself on the floor. Spain was stunned. So Romano has been jealous of Germany the whole time? Apparently this jealousy has eaten him up and ended up making him so sad. Spain had a feeling Romano wouldn't do anything about it; he rarely expressed his feelings towards others. He probably did it now because he was over the edge and Spain triggered him a bit. Spain had to do something:

"

The next day as Spain strolled around to get fresh air, he heard some voices nearby.

"See you tomorrow, Germany!" A merry voice said.

Spain saw it was Italy waving goodbye at Germany and leaving. Italy noticed Spain.

"Ciao, Spain" Italy said.

"Hola, Italy" Spain didn't greet him with his usually cheerful and enthusiastic voice; he greeted him with quite a serious tone.

"Can I have a word with you, Italy?" Spain asked.

"Oh no, what have I done now?! I am sorry, I don't know what I did, but I am sorry!" Italy panicked.

"No, no Italy, it's not something you have done! I want to talk to you about Romano"

At first Italy was relieved that he wasn't in any trouble, but he became worried right away when he heard his brother's name.

"What is it?" Italy asked.

"Let's go for a walk and I`ll tell you what it is"

Italy nodded and went along with Spain.

As the two of them walked, Spain told Italy about yesterday's incident. Italy couldn't believe what he heard. Did Romano really think that?

"This is ridiculous, he is my fratello and I love him the most!" Italy exclaimed.

"That is very nice, Italy. But you should speak to Romano" Spain said.

"Of course! Is he still at your place?"

"

Romano was in the middle of the tomato field. His mood was no better today; the only thing he did was fiddling with a fully ripe tomato. He wanted to do something about this; he didn't like having those feelings. But he didn't know if he could, he hated to talk about feelings and show himself like this to his younger brother. He really didn't want his brother to think less of him nor did he want to lose him for good. Romano dropped the tomato and put a hand to his face.

"Fratello!" Someone called.

Romano put his hand down and looked towards the direction where he heard the voice. It was Italy. He was running towards Romano while pushing away tomato bushes so he could come through. Romano felt as though his heart was stabbed. Why was Italy here now? Did he know about...? Spain. That stupid bastard! Spain must have told Italy how whiny he was yesterday. He was sure he couldn't talk to him without tearing up. Oh God, he really didn't want this!

"There you are fratello" Italy said, now standing a few meters from Romano.

Romano tried to keep his usual facial expression as how it was.

"What do you want?" Romano said in an annoyed tone.

"To be with you, talk with you" Italy said.

"I don't want to talk!"

"OK, We`ll just stand here in silence then"

Romano turned his back, but he didn't leave. Italy just stood there behind him, whistling to himself. After a few minutes, Romano couldn't handle this awkwardness anymore.

"Why don't you just go, why aren't you with that stupid potato bastard!?" Romano yelled.

"I will not leave you Romano, I am your brother and I am staying with you. I will always be with you whether Germany is my friend or not"

Romano felt the stabbing in his heart disappear and now it was bursting instead. His emotions got out of control, he started crying. Italy immediately ran towards him and put his arms around him. Romano returned the gesture and held Italy tight in a way he could be sure Italy wouldn't get loose. Romano rested his chin on his brother's shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably.

"You better not leave me!" Romano said through his sobbed chocked voice.

"I never will, I promise you. I am sorry you have been feeling like this for a long time. You must remember you are the only brother I have, nothing can overcome that. I love you with all my heart, fratello."

Romano eased his neck, making his head hang down by Italy's shoulder and tightened his grip around Italy even more.

"I love you too, dammit!"

Italy and Romano just stood there. Italy did what he could to calm down his brother, but it was hard to give him comforting touches when Romano was holding Italy so tightly. Romano eventually calmed down and eased his grip around Italy. Italy dried Romano's teary wet cheeks with his hands while caressing at the same time.

"You think I am weak now, don't you?" Romano asked when they have released each other and now standing face to face.

"Why in the world would I think such a thing?" Italy asked astonished.

"I was crying…like a girl" Romano said while looking down.

"Do you think you are weak for feeling sadness? You are not weak, fratello, sadness is a common emotion. When we are happy we laugh, when we are angry we yell and when we are sad we cry. It's a way to let out an emotion, it's completely normal"

"Veneziano…"

"And crying cleanse you spirit. Don't you feel better, fratello? When the business has been taken care of and the bad feelings you have let out by the tears?"

Now that he mentioned it, Romano felt a lot better now. On the inside that is, his sinuses hurt. But getting rid of the pain within was one of the best feelings he could ever feel. If Romano had to choose between losing a limb or his brother, he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of a limb. Hell, he could have gotten rid of both his legs and arms if that would make Italy stay.

Italy grabbed his hand.

"Come, I will make you feel even better. There are many things I am going to do for you and things we will do together"

As they walked out of the tomato field, Romano stated to think of what Italy had in mind. But he had the feeling he knew what Italy would do, his brother never changed.


End file.
